A Helper Suitable

Today I begin a series of posts considering some of the things the Lord would have us  as wives understand if He has called our husbands to a ministry of leadership in the local church.  

It's always good to begin at the beginning:

What is my primary role as a wife?

Genesis 2:18- Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."  

Genesis 2:24- For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 

God has created you to be a helper and a completer to the husband that He has given you to.  He has brought the two of you together to serve Him as one. 

This means that if the Lord has called your husband to be in leadership, then He has also called you to serve alongside him.  However, “elder’s wife”, “deacon’s wife”, “full-time worker’s wife” are not special offices in the local church; they don’t place you in a position of authority.  Instead, it is a call to, alongside your husband, be an example to the flock by loving God’s people, serving them, and being willing to lay down your life for them.  

In the next several posts we will look at some of the expectations the Lord has for women whose husbands are in a leadership role.  Then we will go through the qualifications that God gives for men who  would serve as elders in 1 Timothy 3, and discuss how a wife's attitudes and actions  will either help or hinder her husband’s effectiveness in those areas.  Finally we will think about how our personal ministries fit in with these things, and wrap the series up with some promises of reward from the Lord Himself if we carry out this ministry in a way that honors Him.